Te Tiriti o Waitangi

According
to its preamble, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in order to provide
a government for New Zealand and to remove the cause for strife between
Māori and non-Māori.

The first article says that the Māori chiefs “cede to Her
Majesty the Queen of England absolutely and without reservation all
the rights and powers of Sovereignty”. The second article says, “Her
Majesty the Queen confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and tribes of
New Zealand ... the full, exclusive and undisturbed possession of their
Lands and Estates, Forests, Fisheries and other properties ...” The
third article says that the Queen extends to Māori “all
the rights and duties of British Subjects.” The Treaty was first
signed at Waitangi, but many chiefs signed in other places.

There are differences in interpretation of the Treaty, caused partly
by the signing of two official versions of it – in English (quoted
above) and in Māori. For example, in the Māori version,
the word kawanatanga was used as the translation of sovereignty, rather
than rangitiratanga. This has led some to question what rights the Crown
really gained from the Treaty.

However, the Privy Council said in 1994 that “with the passage
of time, the principles which underlie the Treaty have become much more
important than its precise terms”. They said the ‘principles’ are
the underlying mutual obligations and responsibilities that the Treaty
places on Māori and the Crown.

In its 1996 post-election brief Te Puni Kokiri told the coalition
Government of the three basic principles it identified from court
judgments of
the 1990s:

each Treaty partner is under a duty to act reasonably and in
good faith towards the other

the Crown must make informed decisions – with proper
regard to the Treaty when making decisions and

the Crown must take active and positive steps to redress past
breaches of the Treaty (the Waitangi Tribunal was established to
address such breaches).

Interpretation of the Treaty is likely to go on changing as society
itself changes.

The Queen of England agrees to protect the Chiefs, the subtribes and
all the people of New Zealand in the unqualified exercise of their
chieftainship over their lands, their villages, and all their treasures.
But on the
other hand the Chiefs of the Confederation and all the other Chiefs
will sell land to the Queen at the price agreed by the person owning
it and by the person buying it (the latter being) appointed by the
Queen as her purchase agent.

For this agreed arrangement therefore concerning the government of
the Queen, the Queen of England will protect all the ordinary people
of
New Zealand, and will give them all the rights and duties of citizenship
as the people of England.

Signed by W Hobson, Consul and Lieutenant
Governor, and between 520 and 530 Māori chiefs